Toe protector



n, H. ANDERSON. TOE PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED lei/W31, 192i.

Patented June 20, 1922.

Boy

. TELE orrlcn."

ROY H. ANDERSON, or ALLENTOWN, rnnns rnvemhg ASSIGNQE, 0E GATE-HALF 10 GIBSON HASTINGS, F ALLENTQWN, nnn rtverle. em ester new.

or PHILADELPHIA, rmmsrnvnnrn.

- TOE PROTECTOR,

Specification of Letters latent. I t te J1me 192% Application filed May 31, 1921. Serial No. 4328,5631

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that, I, ROY H. ANDnnsoN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of rillentown, in the county of Lehigh and shoe soles and; it is my purpose to provide improvements in the form of protector disclosed in my copending application filed July 25, 1919., and serial-1y numbered 313,308. The protector illustrated and. described in said. application consists of a, metallic member including a base portion thicker at its front than at its rear and adapted, to underlie the sole, a vertical side portion tapering from its front or intermediate, thickened portion rearwardly to thin edges and adapted to embrace the edge of the sole, and an inwardly directed flange at the upper edge of the side portion adapted to overlie the, adjacent top face of the sole. Through the instrumentality of a protector of this form the toe portiono-f a shoe, after being worn away, may be restored to its normal shape by persons with only ordinary skill, thereby saving the trouble and expense of having the shoe formally repaired. Furthermore, such a protector, when applied to the sole of a shoe, is substantially invisible owing to the fact that its. outer surfaces form smooth and even continuations of the correspondingsurfaces. of the sole, and its maximum wearing material is disposed; at the point of greatestwear. It is now my purpose to-provide a protector which is similar to and retains all of the advantages of my prior protect-or, but

which is additionally advantageous in that its. base portion is slotted so that it may be adjusted to fit soles of different lasts,and in that its vertical side portion is. providedwith upper and lower beads functioning, first, to enhance the strength, durability and rigidity of the protector, second, to protect thefienameled intermediate portion of the vertical sides from contact with objectswhich might mar and; chip the enamel, third, to; retain the enamel; on said vertical side portion, and

lastly, to. enhance the graceful appearanceof the protector and providea continuation of th me-dings atthe upper an 1ow r dges the sole of the shoe;

of the soles. of certain styles of shoes, no-

tably of thehig-her and; mre refined grades of womens shoes at present widely worn.

Wh le. my protectoras originally conceived was designed pa-rticularlyv as an article for epair-pimposesit-is in nowiseli-mited to such-use,b 1t is capable of bei-ngplaced on newshoes wlththe same: facility that it is applied to worn-zones, in which. use. the advantages flowing. from. the. provision of the upperand lower headings are of- 'partioular importance. I With the foregoing and other objects, in

view my invention consists in the novel features of construction Which will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in. the a companying drawing-I anctpar icu arly efined in the appended 01311 3.

In the; dr wings herein l ke characters of reference denote. corresponding parts; in the differentviewszee- Fig. l is a perspective, of, the toe portion of a shoe showing the improved protector applied; a

Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1 looking. at

Fig. 3, a viewsimila-r to Fig. 2 showing my protector adjusted. tofita sole. of di-fiierent-last;- 5 v V Fig. 4, an; enlarged perspective of; theproteeter detached; 1

a ec n ake or z n ally t ugh he vertical d por ion o the protector; and 1 p longi udinal. ec on aken rel y t ro gh he pr ector om ont t rear.-

Re r ng 1 mm. he dr w ngs i eta l, 10 designa es g ne ally a h e nd L th ole. hereofi, th e n pertion o whic impr v d prnt er A dapt d, er associatiomi,

r ct-ore en ts at metal m m nc uding b ass por ion 2. or e ponding" s ape o h t n f h sole to which its to be ppli d, ve tical- .s de por ion 13.": r ing tren he as por ion a d; t a h ght r esp d g to e hic n s oi e so e a d an inwardly. directed flange Lt at the upper edge of the side portion preferably of a .wi thitoy e e he op a e f he sol an X nd v rdly t er n ubst n ia ly to: h upper f he ShQ The base p tien :2: is th cker: at s f zentthaniatits edge but the outer face of said base portion and the inwardly directed flange 14 are disposed in parallelism so that to whatever extent the base is thickened forwardly such thickened portion is disposed entirely within the ro tector. The vertical side portion 13 is thick er intermediately than at its ends, that is, it tapers from the front of the protector rearwardly to thin edges. The outer face of said vetical side is designed to form an even continuation of the edge of the sole and the thickened portion thereof, like the thickened portion of the base, is therefore disposed entirely within the protector. Openings are preferably formed in the base portion 12 to receive suitable fastening devices whereby the protector is secured in place, but if desired such openings may be dispensed with and the tangs constituting the flange 14: may be utilized as the sole securing means of the protector. In this connection it is obvious that the flange 14 may consist of the tangs illustrated or it may consist of a continuous strip-like portion, but the tangs are desirable when the flange constitutes the sole securing means for the protector inasmuch as they are capable of a firmer grip on the upper face of the sole than a continuous portion and are particularly desirable upon an adjustable protector to permit adjustments without straining or bulging of any portions thereof.

To render the protector adjustable the base portion 12 is provided with a slit 15 which opens through the rear of the base and terminates in a circular opening near its forward or tip end, said slit tapering from a relatively wide mouth portion at the rear of the protector to a relatively narrow portion where it enters said opening. This slit admits of the sides of the protector being squeezed together so that it will fit the tip portion of a sole of a lesser width or different last from the sole it fits when in its original form, as respectively illustrated to advantage in Figures2 and 3 of the drawings.

Outwardly extending upper and lower beads 16 are formed on the vertical side portion 13 at its junction with the inturned flange 14 and the base portion 12, respectively, and serve to reinforce and stiffen the protector, enhance its graceful appearance and protect the vertical side portion against injury from contact with hard objects.

After completion the protectors are enameled and the beads perform the additional function of providing shoulders tending to hold the enamel 17 on the vertical side portion and prevent chipping of the same. Furthermore, some styles of shoes, notably the higher and more refined grades of womens shoes, are formed at the edges of the sole with upper and lower beads, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, and when the protector is applied to shoes of this type the beads 16 serve to preserve the beauty and grace of their appearance, forming even continuations of the sole beads as is apparent.

The beads 16 may be formed as solid proj ections upon the outer face of the vertical side portion or the metal of said portion may be stamped or otherwise pressed outwardly to form them, in which latter event groovelike depressions will be formed interiorly of the protector, and when the protector is ap plied to the sole the leather will be pressed into these depressions which will assist in retaining the protector firmly in place.

Fig. 4 of the drawings illustrates my invention in its preferred form, but it'is apparent that, all other portions remaining as illustrated, the slit 15 may be eliminated and the base portion formed solid, or both the base portion and flange 14 may be formed solid, or, all other portions remaining the same, the beads may be eliminated, in fact, without departing from the spirit of the invention various portions and features of the protector may be used in combination or separately, but in the preferred form of the protector there exists a relative cooperation between certain portions thereof that renders its production in the form shown most desirable.

In applying the protector to a shoe the forward or tip end of the sole is skived to fit the base portion 12 so that when the protector is applied the bottom of the base constitutes an even continuation of the bottom of the sole. In most instances the leather of the sole is sufliciently soft that applica tion of the protector will result in the sides of the sole being slightly compressed to allow the outer faces'of the vertical side portion to constitute an even continuation of the sides of the sole, but if this cannot be accomplished the sides of the sole may also be skived to fit the thickened part of said vertical side portion. After the protector has been fitted to the sole it is secured in place either by the tangs forming the flange 14 or by suitable fasteners passed through the openings in the base and driven into the sole, or by both the tangs and fasteners as shown. 7

The portion 13 between the beads 16, is preferably concaved and when so formed its purpose is twofoldi First, it gives a true likeness to the edge of a beaded sole to thereby render a nearer perfect continuation of the same and, secondly, its retaining effect on the enamel is more pronounced than if said portion were formed straight as it may be if so desired.

I claim 1. A protector adapted to be secured to the toe portion of a shoe sole, comprising a metallic member including a base portion adapted to underlie the sole, a vertical side portion adapted to embrace the edge of the sole, and a bead formed on and extending contiguous With and adapted to protect the surface of said side portion.

2. A protector adapted to be secured to the toe portion of a shoe sole comprising a metallic member including a base portion adapted to underlie the sole, a vertical side portion adapted to embrace the edge of the sole, and a pair of beads formed on said side portion adjacent to its upper and lower 10 edges, said beads being adapted to protect the surface of said side portion.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

ROY H. ANDERSON. 

